Baby Steps

So I am on business travel and just caught up with voicemails to find out the latest on Yunie. BTW, Janet is home sick - she caught some sort of stomach bug so on top of all of this, she is down and out.

Janet and I spoke last night and she told me that her dad was restless and a bit sore. It's no wonder as he's been in his hospital bed for almost a week. He really wants to walk around but the doctors need to test his strength. Both Janet and I talked about his weight loss. She mentioned that he may weigh less than her now which is not a good thing. Men should always weigh more than women - ha ha!

Anyways, Sandra spent the entire day with her dad at the hospital. This is where having multiple children is a good thing :-). She was with him from about 9 am - 7 pm. A long day indeed.

As of last night Janet had told me that his fever was down and that he had strep pneumonia but the doctors had given him penicillin for this and that his susceptibility to any and all types of viruses let alone health ailments is high due to his weakened system, etc. He has been through a lot. But what a difference a week makes. Tomorrow marks the one week mark when this all started.

Today Yunie was able to continue on pureed foods. Sandra and Janet both told me his nutrition is more like the consistency of baby food. One issue with a patient recovering from a stroke or aneurysm is their ability to swallow can be compromised. Thank goodness Yunie is able to swallow and seems to be able to talk just fine although his voice is very weak.

Janet told me that when her dad was admitted to the hospital he was complaining not only of his intense headache but his intense hunger as well. He was conscious when admitted however he had not eaten any food since last Monday so he was obviously very hungry. After his aneurysm the doctors put him on a pick-line which gave him all his nutrition through an IV. With the pick-line being removed recently he has been able to eat for the last 24-48 hours but it has been very soft foods. janet told me that he was encouraged to eat very slowly and I remember this to be the same case with my father-in-law who had a stroke almost a year ago. Yunie was concerned that if he didn't finish his meal that they would take the food away so I think he was rushing to eat. The nurses assured him they would leave the food there. Sounds like something I would do although if I couldn't eat for a week I would probably request IN-N-OUT along with a big ole' piece of pie!

So, today Yunie had physical therapy and did well . The nurses continue to monitor his heart and lungs and so far, all looks good - knock on wood. The 14-21 days following a stroke or aneurysm still present the highest risk for a repeat occurrence however the doctors feel that he is doing quite well and so well that they anticipate his release to a stroke rehabilitation center soon.

This is truly such a blessing and I feel so fortunate that the outcome so far, has been the best we could hope for.

I'm in training tomorrow so if you don't hear from anyone just know that Yunie has company and is being well cared for. The family appreciates all the love and best wishes.

BTW, it's Daniel's 21st birthday today. What a trooper having him spend it at the deli. We wish him and the rest of the family well.